The Nest

Thursday, November 08, 2007 5:05 PM

One-Pan Brunch Ideas

When the weather starts getting cooler, I love going out for the long, boozy Sunday brunch—spicy Bloody Mary’s, the whole bit. But this weekend, we have friends in town with a baby, which means no restaurants. I’m trying to figure out what to make that will be an easy crowd pleaser, and here’s my fallback recipe. I serve it out of a 9-inch cast-iron pan at the table so everyone can see how pretty it looks whole.

Low-Fuss Fritatta:

One small onion
handful of pancetta, diced (you can substitute shreds of prosciutto)
bunch of asparagus, cut in 1-inch pieces
8 eggs
salt and cracked black pepper
¼ c. parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Dice the onion or chop in a food processor and put in a sauté pan slicked with butter or nonstick cooking spray on medium heat. Once the onions start to caramelize, add your pancetta (no need to add oil or butter…there’s enough fat in the pancetta).

Push pancetta onion mix to one side of the pan. Add asparagus to empty part of pan and sauté. Make sure they stay crisp and bright green, as they’ll continue to cook in the oven (mushy asparagus? Not appealing!). Rearrange the mixture in pan so all ingredients are evenly incorporated. Beat eggs and pour over mixture, adding salt and black pepper.

Put the pan in the oven. Bake until the top puffs up, around 8-10 minutes. Pull out the pan and add parmesan cheese and broil for a few minutes until the cheese melts to a rich brown crust on your frittata. Cut it as you would a pie, and be prepared for applause…and no leftovers. Serves 4-6.

The one thing that would top this off is a super-spicy Bloody Mary. Does anyone have a favorite recipe to share?  

For a vegetarian twist on my frittata, click here.